Format text in cells

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Formatting text or numbers can make them appear more visible especially when you have a large worksheet. Changing default formats includes things like changing the font color, style, size, text alignment in a cell, or apply formatting effects. This article shows you how you can apply different formats and also undo them.

If you want text or numbers in a cell to appear bold, italic, or have a single or double underline, select the cell and on the Home tab, pick the format you want:

Change font style, size, color, or apply effects

Click Home and:

For a different font style, click the arrow next to the default font Calibri and pick the style you want.

To increase or decrease the font size, click the arrow next to the default size 11 and pick another text size.

To change the font color, click Font Color and pick a color.

To add a background color, click Fill Color next to Font Color.

To apply strikethrough, superscript, or subscript formatting, click the Dialog Box Launcher, and select an option under Effects.

Change the text alignment

You can position the text within a cell so that it is centered, aligned left or right. If it’s a long line of text, you can apply Wrap Text so that all the text is visible.

Select the text that you want to align, and on the Home tab, pick the alignment option you want.

Clear formatting

If you change your mind after applying any formatting, to undo it, select the text, and on the Home tab, click Clear > Clear Formats.